In weatherproof garments such as coats and jackets, it is conventional to have one or more vents. The function of the vents is to allow air to flow into the garment to cool the user.
However, with such weatherproof garments, it is desirable for the vent to be waterproof, so that the garment may be classified to have a certain degree of waterproof integrity (e.g. GORE-TEX® storm level testing/GQS2). Commonly, waterproof vents achieve this by providing zippers or similar closure means that the user has to close in order to render the vent weatherproof. This is disadvantageous as it means that the vent cannot be acting to cool the user whilst closed. Users who participate in activities such as mountaineering, hill walking, cycling and running have to choose between having the vent open and risking getting wet through the vent, or having the vent closed to stay dry but getting hot due to the closed vent.
Vents such as these are also disadvantageous because they require the user to remember to close and open the vent when it starts or stops raining, or when ventilation is required.
Some vent arrangements have been designed to overcome this problem. These vents commonly have a mesh or similar material that extends across the vent opening, to allow the free flow of air into the garment and inhibit the passage of water, e.g. rain, through the vent and into the garment. In many cases, the mesh also acts to hold the vent together, performing a structural function.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,767 discloses such a ventilation system for waterproof sports clothing. In this document, ventilation openings are provided which are formed by overlaps of the material of the clothing. These ventilation openings are waterproof due to the presence of a flexible, three-dimensionally cross-linked spacer material filling the opening that acts as a barrier to water.
JP 2009299251 also discloses a similar opening to that of U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,767. A cloth piece is connected by stitching to both sides of the opening to act as a rainwater invasion preventing dam.
Alternative vent arrangements have also been designed to overcome the problem of providing an open but waterproof vent that does not require a spacer or mesh material to block the vent opening, e.g. JP 3136886U. In this document, a raincoat is formed from a waterproof outer material and an inner material. The inner material may be made of a mesh cloth that is stretchable. A ventilation opening is formed by an overhang between an upper part and a lower part of the outer material. At the overhang, the upper end portion of the lower part of the outer material is fastened to the inner material, creating a meshed vent. The length of the overlap being about 50 mm helps to prevent water from entering into the inside of the raincoat.
JP-A-7278913 also discloses a similar arrangement. However, in this document there is a special configuration to trap water. This is located in the overhang at the top of the upper end portion of the lower part of the outer material, just before the outer material joins the (meshed) inner material. The configuration consists of an upper end portion of the lower part of the material folded four times to a form a four-layer part with two V-shaped grooves. This is fastened integrally with the same stitches that join the lower part of the outer material to the inner mesh. This arrangement is designed so that when a wearer bends over, the ventilation opening narrows and the lower portion of the upper end part of the outer material touches the V-shaped grooves to block water travelling into the ventilation opening. This prevents water running along the outer material into the ventilation opening when the user bends over.